Trump's sending the military to the border with Mexico was estimated at $ 200 million

The decision of Donald Trump to send to the border with Mexico up to 15 thousand soldiers because of the movement to the border of the caravan of migrants will cost the military budget hundreds of millions of dollars, experts calculated

Donald trump
(Photo: Carlos Barria / Reuters)

The cost of sending the US military to the border with Mexico due to the influx of migrants, including the maintenance of National Guard soldiers who have been guarding the border since April, could cost the White House more than $ 200 million by the end of 2018. About this writes The Washington Post, citing analysts of the Center for Strategic and Budget Assessments and Pentagon data.

On November 1, US President Donald Trump announced plans to send at least 15,000 troops to the border with Mexico. Increased border control is associated with the approach of a caravan of migrants from Central America, Trump explained.

As noted by WP, spending on sending the military to the border is insignificant for the military budget of $ 716 billion for the fiscal year, but they occur against the backdrop of the requirements of the Trump administration to reduce non-binding expenses. So, the White House demanded that the Pentagon cut the budget for next year by $ 33 billion due to the growing deficit of the federal budget.

Trump's decision was criticized by Democrats in the House of Representatives. “Instead of interparty work to carry out comprehensive, robust, and humane reforms in immigration law, the president continues to turn to politically motivated spread of fear and uses resources and personnel to advance his anti-immigrant agenda,” the Democratic Party’s more than 100 congressmen said.

About 2 thousand soldiers of the National Guard of the United States are already on the border with Mexico in accordance with the decree of Trump, issued in April. The cost of sending these troops to the border for the period from April to September amounted to $ 103 million. The northern command of the US Armed Forces was going to increase the contingent at the border to 7 thousand National Guard men, which would cost the military budget another $ 308 million until next September.

It is not known whether Trump took into account the National Guard soldiers when he talked about plans to send 15 thousand troops to the border. If he decides to send another 8,000 ordinary military to the border, they will cost the budget $ 50 million in the period up to December of this year. Sending 15 thousand soldiers at once to the National Guard under soldiers will cost $ 110 million.